Eclipse Of The Sun

With half the population on the front lines and the other half soon to join, Europa was becoming a troubled city. Silver looked around, noting how many of the Lunar guards were now mares, seeing as the original roster got pulled to the front lines. Very few ponies walked the streets outside of the occasional guard patrol, and nearly every damaged home had remained that way since the attack; all too likely was the aspect of the port remaining in this state of ruination until the war ended.

The Pegasus trotted onto the docks and looked at the moon's reflection in the water - there was little else to do, and he intended to leave with Dusk when the Earth Pony was declared fit for duty. Hopefully he might get to talk to Night again, maybe even record some of the events and happenings on the war - it would make for a fine story some day.

Silver heard voices from behind. He turned and saw a group of Celestial laborers approaching, a duet of female guards watching them closely. They paid no mind to the lone Pegasus sitting on the end of the dock. The prisoners all sat down and waited, probably expecting a ship to pull into the harbor at some point or another to begin their work. Pegasi had their wings tied tightly around their waist, and it looked like the Unicorns had some sort of inhibitor over their horns. After a time, he noticed that one of the ponies kept casting glances down the dock, looking away every time Silver turned back around. The Unicorn looked vaguely familiar, but with his scraggly coat and unkempt mane, it was hard to be sure.

There was some murmuring from the group, and a couple other ponies were now staring at Silver, and then looking back to the Unicorn - he must have been the ringleader of the prisoners, perhaps a former officer. There were only two guards, and they were behind the group; the Pegasus wondered if they could respond quickly enough to any incident. The Unicorn stepped forwards, stopping a couple feet from Silver.

"I remember you. Wavebreaker told me that you and your friend were deserters, and I let you go," the Unicorn said, his voice quiet but full of malice. "I'm not making that mistake again."

Silver was about to crack some witty response about how he'll never be able to, when the Unicorn swung a vicious right hook, striking the Pegasus in the jaw. His head jerked to the side and he was thrown off balance, recovering just in time to take another blow from the left, bringing Silver to the ground.

"Hey! What's going on?!" shouted a guard.

"Move out of the way, or it's the gallows for all of you!" said the other, trying to push their way through. Both must have been Earth Ponies, or they might have gotten to Silver's end of the dock by now.

Silver tried to stand, only to have his legs kicked out from below. Stargazer reared back and slammed downward on the wood, but the Pegasus finally composed himself and dodged the strike, and Stargazer's hooves smashed through the dock wood. Silver let out a kick aimed for the Unicorn's head, only to miss - Stargazer ducked - and give the pony the chance to escape the broken wood.

The Unicorn lunged at Silver, who took off just a tad bit too slow, allowing the pony to catch a hoof and unbalance the Pegasus. Silver was slammed down into the wood face-first, and in an instant Stargazer was upon him, a foreleg locked around his neck. The guards had decided it acceptable to hack and slash through the stubborn audience of prisoners, only finding that the ponies were more than willing to fight back even if unarmed; they certainly had the advantage of numbers. Silver was doing everything he could to dislodge Stargazer from his back, from madly flapping his wings - which accomplished little other than thrashing them both around the dock - to throwing his head backwards to elbowing Stargazer in the side repeatedly, but the former admiral had a vice grip.

There was a call for backup from one of the guards, quickly answered by three other Pegasi who shot the prisoners nearest the two Earth Ponies. The rest ceased fighting now that they no longer held a distinct advantage, and Silver and Stargazer were separated amid shouts and more blows. Silver fell forwards, coughing and weak, and he heard sounds of a brief struggle between the Unicorn and the other Pegasi - they passed Silver a few seconds later, an unconscious Stargazer in tow. A couple other Lunars showed up to escort the rebellious prisoners back to their camp, and some dead prisoners - and maybe some still alive - were kicked into the water.

"Hey, are you alright? Aren't you Regent Night's friend?" a Pegasus guard asked, leaning over next to Silver.

"Yes, I am. I'll be fine here in a bit," he replied, standing up on shaking legs. "Just need to get my breath back."

The dark gray mare offered herself as a support. "My name's Private Cloudburst, I'll get you to the infirmary. It may be a short trot, but you took a beating."

"Yeah, I know..."

The two ponies left the dock and took a right curve to the streets, passing the escorted prisoners. They took a turn-filled path through the scarred Europa until they could see the infirmary at the end of the road. The black-tailed mare sometimes made little comments; most where rhetorical in nature, with only one eliciting a response from the beaten stallion.

"You know, I believe that was the first time the prisoners have acted up outside their camp."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we can usually keep their resolve pretty low - they don't get to see then sun and they don't hear anything but bad news from the front. Hay, even if they did start an uprising, what do they do? Europa's already been ruined, and the citizens that came back know the way to Io or Amalthea if they need to bail. It's really just soldiers and shipping supplies here now, and with how little a stockpile of the latter this city had after the attack, destroying them would be a waste of time," Cloudburst explained. "If I was in their hooves, risking my neck to spite some Lunars would be the last thing on my mind."

"The need for revenge will drive a pony mad." Just look at Night...

"True. What exactly did you do to make that one insane, though?"

"I'm part of the reason that every pony we pulled out of the sea is here today," Silver said, walking up the steps to the infirmary. He opened the door and pushed it open enough to allow the mare to enter right behind him. A nurse quickly noticed Silver's face and led the ponies into a small side room, asking that they wait a moment for her to return.

"Oh?" commented the guard, once the nurse had left. "And how'd that come about, if I may ask?"

"Another Lunar and I posed as deserters fleeing to Zebrica on a shady merchant's ship - you may remember him as Wavebreaker, he was executed about a week ago - when we were stopped by the Celestial's flagship for a deal between our captain and the Celestial fleet admiral. The Unicorn that attacked me-" Silver stopped as the nurse returned, carrying a couple rags. "-was the fleet admiral, and he would have taken both of us into custody if not for Wavebreaker informing him that Blackest Night was in Europa.

"Once we were in Zebrica, my friend and I convinced Foalami to help the Lunar cause with his navy, and then you have the Second Battle of Europa," the Pegasus finished, allowing the nurse to hold a cold rag over the right side of his face and wrap the second one loosely around his neck.

"Hold these here for a bit. Are you breathing alright?" the nurse asked.

"Yes."

"Can you see properly when the rag is out of the way?"

Silver moved the cloth off his face. "Yes."

"Good. And what of you? Are you injured somewhere?" the nurse asked, turning towards the guard.

"I'm fine. Just escorting him around," the private replied, nodding to Silver. The nurse nodded and left the room.

Cloudburst decided to remove her helmet for the time being, placing it by her side. She let her white mane fall from where the armor had held it against her neck, ending a few inches past her shoulders. Silver was a little surprised that it all fit under the helmet. The mare kept going, kicking off her hoofguards and loosening her chestpiece, commenting on how she disliked the fit - the stallion caught himself staring, and averted his eyes before she noticed.

The nurse returned with a clipboard, recorded Silver's name, and said that he was good to go but should return if any issues arose. He thanked her, and heard his self-declared escort sigh in frustration, "Just as I was getting comfortable, too!" before putting everything back on. When she was done, Silver held the door open and let her go through first, and repeated his actions at the entrance to the streets. Once they were outside, Cloudburst said, "I guess I can bring you home, if you want. Not much else to do, I'm sure somepony already told the commander what happened."

"If you're okay with it, then so am I," Silver replied. "It's back the way we came, sort of close to the docks."

The ponies began their trot, slower than before. They talked a little more this time as well, their conversation ranging from Luna being worshiped as more than a princess to stopping the change of the seasons in at least part of Equestria to high-speed Pegasus flight until they finally arrived at Silver's doorstep - a moderately dilapidated house, boasting boarded windows facing the bay and two gaping holes in the roof, reportedly from a missed cannon shot.

Silver approached and opened the door. "Well, this is it. Thanks for the walk," he said, looking back at Cloudburst.

"Wait, you mean you're Blackest Night's best friend and he makes you live in this?!"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. My bedroom's dry and warm, and that's all I care about when it comes to houses. I'm only in this thing until I leave Europa - I have a perfectly fine home in Amalthea."

"If that's how you see it. I personally just prefer my houses battle-damage free," Cloudburst said, turning around. "Be sure to put in a good word with Night for me," the mare continued, smiling.

Rune leaned over his map, hooves on his head. He needed sleep. He needed a drink - but he also needed to win, because Equestria's situation grew more dire by the moment. He glanced over the map, which only increased the load on his mind.

The Derbyshire Line was gone, crushed under the hooves and talons of their enemies. Derbyshire itself put up a good fight - the citizens weren't going to fall so easily, not with the numbers they had - but reports said a quarter of the city was destroyed and a third of the defenders slaughtered. Blackest Night's cruelty was probably one of his greatest advantages; as long as he didn't kill all the ponies...

The Celestials held their sense of morality over the Lunars like a carrot over a timberwolf.

Rune's horn bumped the table when he nodded off briefly, the sudden jolt of pain snapping him back to attention. The Unicorn stood up straight for a moment and let out an exasperated sigh. He needed to know the Lunar's weaknesses, not their strengths, but right now he felt like they had none - superior weaponry, better training, control of the skies - and what advantages the Celestials had were slowly dwindling - numerical superiority was lost at Derbyshire, morale was six feet under, and all their supplies were being stolen by Griffon raiders.

Of course, it wasn't going to do any good if he focused on his own weaknesses as well. Come on, think! What do we have that the Lunars don't? The Unicorn pulled out a piece of paper and a quill, and started scribbling everything that came to mind.

Well, Equestria had a hell of a lot more land. Had, at least, in the beginning. Equestria still had many more cities though... Cities. Ponies. Reserves. Potential reserves, at least - most ponies knew of the atrocities committed by their enemy, and a significant number would avoid fighting for that reason, but they could be convinced. Rune wrote down 'Population' under Equestria.

'Experience,' 'Morale,' and 'Weaponry' went under the Lunars. The Unicorn thought about giving them 'Naval' as well - the Lunar Armada may be in shambles, but they at least still had some ships. He gave 'Alicorn' and 'Elements' to Equestria, but unless he could convince Celestia to fight, both might be worthless. The Lunars also got 'Alliance,' a word now unknown to those who previously considered Equestria a friend. Equestria got 'Defense' - even if so far they hadn't been any good at it - followed by 'Trade,' as long as their ports were kept out of enemy hooves then lost supplies could still be restocked to some extent. The Celestial yawned.

Alright, now how do I change all of this?

Rune looked back at his map, and back to 'Morale' on his list, and back to the map again. There was a force in Stalliongrad; not an especially large one, but it would do. Trottingham, or Dappleshore? The first was closer, but the second would prevent Canterbury from being cut off - though with there now being a large Griffon presence to the east instead of the north, and with the regular raids west of Canterlot still proceeding as normal...

Either the Griffons had new recruits, or they just diverted half their force to the Lunar advance and left the northernmost area of Equestria empty. Rune figured he could take the risk; he wrote up a command for the ponies at Stalliongrad to advance northeast and reclaim Trottingham and Dappleshore, and set it on his desk. He made a second order for the soldiers in Hoofington to fill the gap by moving north. Hopefully, the Celestials actually taking something for once would restore their confidence. He marked out 'Morale'.

The Unicorn looked back at his map, specifically to the plains that the remains of the First Regiment were scattered on, with the Lunars chasing them down. There was a village in the middle of the plans - Horseforth. Rune knew it had some local guards, and with the casualties suffered by the First Regiment, there was no guarantee he could contact a living commander, so he wrote up something for the village: a request to find the retreating regiment - if they hadn't been found already - and a warning that the Lunars would be upon them soon - again, if it hadn't already occurred.

Rune yawned again. How late was it, anyways? He had no way to tell. The pony grabbed Canterbury's report on the damages caused to the stalled Lunar Armada - more than half of the ships had been destroyed, or so they figured, and the rest weren't much better off - Rune wondered if Blackest Night planned on saving them, and if so, how. In another week, there might not be any Lunar ships left. He made another letter warning Colonel Hail of a possible Lunar assault from the rear, as well as the recommendation that coastal defenses be turned inland and that some defensive fortifications be prepared.

The advantage offered by the Lunar cannons could at least be nullified if Celestial forces could get close enough to steal one and later find out how to make their own, but just getting close to the cannons would be a feat - though, there were plenty of ships sitting at the bottom of the Canterbury Strait, and probably plenty of the Zebra-made weapon inside, if they could be recovered. The rest of the Lunar Armada would need to sink or leave before any salvage attempt could be made.

The general pondered how much he could do to pad the numbers of the army from his spot in the war room - well, admittedly it wasn't much. Rune started writing up notifications for the other large cities - Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Hoofingston, Fillydelphia, and Canterlot itself - to prepare for a possible influx of recruits, as he intended to convince Princess Celestia to give out a call to arms before her subjects. Maybe the Alicorn would be roused to action by her own speech, if she did it well enough.

At least now he could say he might have truly done something to better Equestria's position, seeing as her so-called allies didn't want to be part of a losing war that could drag on far past Night's death - Halfbeak wouldn't let his beloved tax-free mountain path be taken so easily now that he had invested so much into it, and who knew what promise the Lunars had made to the Zebras to get them to help.

Rune sent his orders, and now thoroughly exhausted, stumbled off to bed.

"My King, I bear news from the war across the sea," the Zebra courier said, crouching so low to the ground that he may as well have been laying down. And yet, his head bowed lower.

King Foalami sighed. It had been so long since the Lunar emissaries came over that he had nearly forgotten about them. He pointed a hoof at the crouched Zebra and raised it slowly - the courier rose with it, as if on a string. With his other hoof, Foalami signaled for Adisa to come to his side. The king whispered into his speaker's ear, and leaned back into his throne.

"King Foalami wishes to know what you know," Adisa said.

The courier looked down. "My King, the ships and crews you gave to the Lunars have taken heavy losses."

The king pulled his speaker close again. "King Foalami wishes to know how heavy the losses are."

"My King, we have lost nearly twenty vessels, with crew and supplies."

King Foalami's eye twitched. He leaned back, and placed a hoof over his forehead in thought. There were not supposed to be so many ships sunk, not with their superior armament, and not with their superior crews. What was to be told to the families of the dead?

He had accepted the one-sided Lunar deal because he was confident in a flawless victory, and the Lunars were allies. Now, reparations would need to be made - some stupid engraved wall that no Zebra would ever see in return for hundreds of Zebras and nearly a quarter of his fleet was no longer something he would agree to as a friend. Foalami grabbed Adisa's foreleg and nearly yanked him over.

"King Foalami declares these losses unacceptable, and demands that you tell the Lunars that they must repay him."

The courier nodded and bowed. "My King, what should they give?"

The king thought a moment. What could he get out of the Lunars, anyways? Too much, and he might actually cripple their ability to fight, or make an enemy of their returning princess. Too little was, well, exactly that. Prisoners of war for use as slaves would be useful, if they could be brought over without the risk of rebellion on board the ships. Maybe a city or two wrestled from Equestria? A colony did sound nice, and now could be his chance to have one. Foalami stroked his chin.

"King Foalami would like no less than two coastal Equestrian cities to add to Zebrica's control," Adisa parroted. "The cities will be left intact, and all inhabitants prevented from leaving. That is all."

The king waved his hoof at the courier, who lowered himself to the ground to leave, practically sliding along the ground. Adisa returned to his original spot a yard away from the throne, and Foalami contemplated what he would do with his future cities.

"We believe that our next move should be to take Canterbury, and finally relieve Stormwind's fleet," Swift Breeze said, a hoof on the peninsula. "The few repair vessels going there will be useless unless we get the armada out of that fjord."

"How many Celestials are there? If their numbers are small enough, I would be more than happy to take a detachment of Griffons down there myself," Graytail replied.

"If you wish. We still need to complete our takeovers of all the Celestial ports, and if General Night allows it-" the Pegasus said, nodding to Night, "-then I'm fairly certain we will all be going down south anyways."

Night nodded, but continued his silent streak. The process brought about by his sword, combined with the battle and his injuries, had just about made him a dead pony walking. Unless he had a very good reason to so much as open his mouth, he would stay quiet - though, with Aphelion continuing to blame every last death in Derbyshire on himself, the Unicorn may have some talking to do after all.

"I agree. At any rate, cutting off Equestria's supplies will likely be the better option. If we force the issue when they are incapable of fighting, they stand even less of a chance," Dark said. "If Celestia has to watch as her ponies starve and her soldiers are sent out to fight unequipped, then she will perhaps be more open to surrender, if only to ease the suffering of her populace."

"Better yet, what if we could make the war unpopular in Equestria? Convince the masses that Celestia doesn't care about them. Spread rumors. Bring up their flaws and previous losses. A little bit of propaganda here, some lies there, until they turn on her, soldiers and civilians alike," suggested Breeze. Graytail nodded.

"And, as you have said, if this all happens while the Celestials barely have the will to fight, then the effect would be massive! Why, we could drop papers full of this stuff on their camps and cities before even showing up, and have them surrendering by the time we arrive!" the Griffon exclaimed, standing over the table. "I'll have some of my brighter soldiers start thinking up ideas for this propaganda - we could even make this a specialist role in our armies!"

Night watched the Griffon carefully. He and his generals had discussed things like propaganda before, but using it against the Celestials never really struck them as a good idea; they also never got so enthusiastic about it. The Unicorn wondered what could be driving the bird to such heights - maybe Halfbeak had demanded fewer losses? Fewer battles? He would ask Graytail if he got the chance. The black pony also looked towards Aphelion, who was still sitting with his head down. The other Unicorn looked away when Night tried to make eye contact.

Swift Breeze turned to his right to face Night. "I agree, this is something to consider. What do you think, sir?"

"If it means less Lunar deaths," Night said, grimacing at the subdued hoarseness of his voice, "then do it. Just make sure it doesn't become a greater priority than fighting when we need to."

The whole table looked at him. "By the moon, are you ill?" Dark asked, leaning forward a bit. Night shook his head.

"No, uh... it's nothing. We know what our plans are, this meeting is dismissed," the Unicorn said, shaking his head and raising his hoof.

"Are you sure the doctor didn't miss anything? You sounded fine earlier," Graytail added.

Night was in no mood to be pried at. He exited the tent and made for his quarters before anymore questions could be asked. His wounds had been treated, but whatever numbing salve the doctor had used felt like it was already wearing off, and the Unicorn desperately wanted to be asleep before he could feel everything again - not to mention that the bandage across his face made him feel clumsy, not being able to see out of one eye and all.

He pushed open the flap to his tent. The Unicorn's armor had been unceremoniously tossed into a heap on the floor while the doctor had treated his wounds, and Night hadn't yet picked it up. He did so now, nudging it into a semi-orderly pattern near the tent entrance. The wretched sword remained at his hooves, having been hidden under the armor. It was sheathed, but there appeared to be a fang-like protrusion jutting out from near the tip of the scabbard, not to mention a much more tapered point coming out of the scabbard tip.

The first couple inches of the scabbard appeared to be split along the edge, as well. Sighing, Night gripped the sheath and his sword, and attempted to pull them apart - no easy task considering he was trying to cut metal, thanks to the tooth sticking out near the tip. Multiple tries with different positions yielded small results, and eventually Night had brought the furthest end of the blade about halfway down. Now, he began to wiggle the weapon around a bit, cutting into the edge of the scabbard until it finally gave way and he wrenched his blade free. The sheath was useless now - he tossed it aside.

Engravings on the blade had changed, too; more detail, to the point of there being smaller engravings atop the larger ones. The pommelstone was doing it's usual trick of glowing obscenely bright, but it appeared that a small amount of metal had grown to shape a partial claw over the miniature sun. He eventually decided that he had stared at the haunted object for long enough, and placed it over his armor, concealing the glow of the stone under his helmet. The Unicorn trotted off to his bedroll, wanting the night to be done with in hopes of feeling a bit better once he woke up.

Silver waited as Dusk finished packing his saddlebags, sometimes lending the Earth Pony a hoof if there was something he couldn't quite reach. The Pegasus already had his own bags packed, which were currently under his wings. He didn't plan on flying, but he hoped that the bags wouldn't interfere with his motion if he needed to.

Dusk looked like he was finished, his bags topped off - he was an Earth Pony, after all - and his longsword strapped to his left flank under one of his bags. "All set?" Silver asked. Dusk nodded.

"The rest of the squad should be at the gates pretty soon. Let's get there before they do."

Silver turned and opened the door for his friend, and then followed him out. It was a calm spring night, and the streets were slightly less abandoned than usual - or so it seemed, until Silver looked a little closer and realized that they were all soldiers. Not long after the Pegasus had been beaten up by Stargazer, the local guards had to finish loading the supply ships themselves because the other Celestial prisoners started to follow his example. Now, with more guards being brought in from Io or conscripted here, the violence would hopefully cease - at least, until those guards were also called to the front lines.

The two ponies kept on their way through the streets, sometimes greeting other guards or the much rarer non-enlisted citizen. No groups of Celestial slaves were out, with their recent behavior keeping them locked up - in their place, some other locals were checking and double-checking the transport vessels and replacement warships, some of which appeared to be made out of scrapped houses and captured Royal Navy ships. Silver wondered if Wavebreaker's ship was among them.

Silver hadn't been to Amalthea in well over a month, and hoped that at least the Lunar capital would have some more liveliness to it. The two ponies arrived at the gatehouse, where they found three other ponies waiting - two young stallions, and a mare from the docks. To pass time, Silver and Dusk started acquainting themselves with the other Lunars, and found that the two stallions had just been conscripted to receive training in the field, and the mare had been one of the dock-guards beating up Celestial slaves the night Silver had been assaulted.

More and more ponies arrived, until they numbered at around ten; five stallions including Dusk, and five mares. According to one of the latter, this was the only unit being sent out tonight with such an even ratio. While there hadn't been an official order allowing mares on the front line, the only way to fill troop requests was with mares, but the higher-ups responsible for unit composition at least tried to stick some stallions in their midst. Not all good news for the stallions, though, as there were several rules in play regarding relationships and whatnot, and it was made clear that each unit would be divided up evenly among the front-line companies.

All they needed now was a commanding officer, likely a lieutenant of some sort. The Lunars waited patiently, and continued waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour before the gatehouse captain walked in through the door, looked around and then walked straight over to Dusk, who had decided to sit next to Silver.

"Are you Dusk Shadows?" he asked.

"Yes, sir."

"I presume this group is waiting for their commander, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

The Pegasus nodded, and waved a Unicorn over. "Congratulations, you've just made First Lieutenant," he said, turning to the Unicorn. "Care to clear the rank on his armor?"

Dusk's eyes widened. "Wait, wha-"

"You're the only pony in this group with real combat experience, and we don't have enough ponies like you to be slapping you all into one group. These new recruits - for the most part - barely know how to march, and we don't have the numbers, time, or resources here in Europa to spend on training them otherwise," the captain explained. The Unicorn's horn glowed, and shortly after, a black rectangle had been burned onto Dusk's armor, mostly covering the previous engraving.

The rest of the ponies had noticed what was happening, and repeatedly looked from Dusk's scorched-on rank to the captain who ordered it in surprise. The Earth Pony finally came to his senses after a few more seconds, and called for his new unit to go outside. They followed, a little hesitant at first and with some minor comments about why the pony who just walked out of the infirmary half an hour ago was now in charge, but they quieted up once outside. Dusk used what he had learned from taking orders previously to get the Lunars into a semi-orderly formation before the captain stepped in and informed the new officer on what he had done right and wrong.

Silver looked down the road while the instructing continued, spotting two guards dragging a limp body between them. Confused, Silver approached them slowly, until he recognized the pony being pulled across the ground despite the numerous lacerations, bruises, and the muzzle and blindfold covering his face - Stargazer.

The Unicorn also had shackles covering his wrists, the chains between his legs appearing to be just long enough to allow for a moderately fast walk, at best. There were also a pair of bars and a length of rope strapped to his side, and the muzzle was attached to a very uncomfortable looking collar. When the ponies dragging their charge reached Dusk's unit - who were now also looking in awe at the wounded form before them - they threw Stargazer forward into the dirt, and when he refused to rise to his hooves, the Unicorn received a swift kick to the ribs.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention: you're bringing a guest of importance with you to the front. Regent Night requested that any high-ranking officers slated for execution be brought to him. Less fun for us, but he has his reasons. Bastard's a bad influence on the other prisoners anyways.

"Do what you want with him - pack animal, stress reliever, whatever - just make sure hes alive and in one piece when you reach Night's camp," the officer finished, looking at Stargazer with a hint of disgust. The ponies who had carried the prisoner then kicked him from behind, resulting in the Unicorn stumbling forwards and nearly falling down again.

One of the younger mares spoke up. "Who exactly... is he?"

"Formerly Admiral Stargazer, partially responsible for the current state of Europa," the captain answered. "We've had him for a while. Regent Night thought he could find something for him to do - aside from hauling crates - but nopony here could think of a single thing that we could really trust a captured Celestial to do."

The ponies all glared at the disheveled Unicorn, who had gone from looking pissed off at life to cowering and looking away from the other Lunars. A stallion spoke up. "And... The other?" he asked, malice in his voice.

"His head rolled two weeks ago. Wavebreaker, I think." The Pegasus looked to Dusk and Silver. "But, I didn't have much involvement. If you really must know all of their exploits, your new lieutenant and his friend will know."

A powerful gust of wind ripped through Night's tent, uprooting it's stakes and sending the heavy fabric soaring through the sky. Night was blown down onto his side, and his bedroll followed soon after - even his armor, as heavy as it was, rolled along the ground and faded from sight.

The Unicorn stood up against the wind, dazed. Looking around, he found himself completely alone. As far as he could see, the land around him was a wasteland of ash dunes and wind tinted with red light. He looked up, and found the sun - an equally red orb partially concealed behind fast-moving clouds - beginning to set. It vanished from sight mere seconds later, and the field went dark under a starless, moonless sky.

Night tried to gather his thoughts. There's no way this is Luna's dimension, and if it is, then something bad has happened and I need to find her, he thought, slowly plodding forward. The red sun suddenly rose up to his right, beginning its' swift journey over the wastes. The wind blew into the Lunar from his right, causing his mane to whip about wildly, like some purple flame spouting from his neck and head.

He traveled between the dunes whenever he could, which helped in dealing with the wind but every now and then he still had to hike up to the top of one to look for landmarks. There never were any, though - just the same landscape of ever-shifting hills of red. The pony kept going, and as he crested the largest dune yet, a feeling of anxiety washed over him. He hadn't liked it much to begin with, but now he liked it even less. He wanted to turn around, run away even, anything but keep on his course.

Looking around from his hill, he could see no reason for himself to feel this way. The landscape was the same as before, and even had a serene, disconnected beauty to it. He kept scanning the horizon, his body yelling at him to get away, until he noticed something far off between the clouds and blizzard-like winds; a mountain, quickly vanishing and reappearing as the wind blew and the light changed.

"Why do you hesitate?" a voice boomed in Night's ears, reverberating through his mind. The pony grimaced, and his uneasy feeling strengthened. "Come forward."

Night shook his head and continued, heading down the steep hill. It started to blow away soon after. At least now he knew something hadn't happened to Luna, or at least it was less likely. He kept on dragging himself through the wind and ash, mentally keeping track of the direction of the mountain. It would be a while, though - it had looked to be very far away. The blood-red sun would rise and fall many, many times before he arrived.

The pony soon lost track of how many times it completed the cycle, instead just watching his shadow shrink in one direction and grow in the other over and over. At least in this alternate world he only felt mentally exhausted, rather than physically; otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.

Something caught his eye - odd, considering that the land was the same for endless miles. It was a set of hoofprints in the ash, not far from him. Night blundered over to the tracks and found that they were not uniform, but rather haphazard, as if whoever made them was some staggering drunkard. He followed them - they were leading towards the mountain, anyhow - and found that they cut off abruptly, with only what looked like the imprint of a body. Night felt an evanescent pain ripple through his body, focusing on his foreleg and his chest.

"Do you ever wonder..." rambled the voice. Night watched in shock as more prints appeared in the snow, continuing what the body-print had formerly stopped, "why you survived? How the one you call Dusk escaped?" The hoofprints continued for a while, much more normal than the ones Night had followed, until they left the safety behind the dune and vanished in the wind.

"Do you know the reason?" the voice continued. There was a presence here with the Unicorn, somewhere in the ash and wind. Dark shapes moved in and out of the edges of his vision - Night ignored them, passing it off as tricks played by the dust. The mountain didn't feel any closer, but he knew there was no way he hadn't closed at least some distance.

"No," came Night's reply, once he realized that the question wasn't rhetorical. He had to cough up some ash when it was blown down his throat.

Something that sounded vaguely like laughter echoed around the pony. "You see, you are not the only one to ever be wronged by Celestia. Her disregard for anypony but herself runs far deeper than the so-called historians dare to say."

Please, you are preaching to the converted, the Unicorn thought. He kept on his struggle towards the mountain - surely it had to be closer, right? Perhaps it was just so incomprehensibly huge that he would have to walk for quite some time before it appeared closer.

"She slew a young Griffon who helped her and her sister in their earliest years when they disagreed. She promised that the creatures who remained in Discord's wake would be allowed to hold on to the Everfree, and then purged the forest the following month so she could build a new city instead. She promised that I might be reformed and freed, and then she sent me to Cervidas without so much as a spark of containing magic, dooming the Elkine.

"Now, she banishes her sister and declares war on her followers, and finds it odd that you disagree; then, you, the pony struck most gravely by her evils, the pony leading the great Lunar crusade, dies." Through the wind, Night felt something breathe down his neck and continue on down his spine. He shivered.

"Or... does he?" Night felt a very faint sensation of pain in his forelegs and chest. The wind around him seemed to carry with it the smell of burnt fur, and he felt cold.

"I had watched Equestria for hundreds of years, waiting for somepony to rise up and challenge the sun itself, but they never did. They loved it too much. Even the Griffons, displeased with the disappearance of their hero, lacked the dedication to wage war on Equestria. A great deal of my remaining power I wasted on those cowards, just to see them sign a treaty or give in to other demands. And so I continued to wait."

The ashen clouds over Night cleared for a brief moment, revealing the crimson sun as it raced across the sky. For a pony who already felt anxious when in normal sunlight, he didn't like being under this type any better. Even darkness in this strange world left him feeling on edge, an occurrence that he had never experienced before.

"For a time, I entertained the thought of using my power to turn Luna against her sister, but she turned on her own and failed long before I was ready. However, you had not escaped my notice. Your mortality and lack of influence that the Elements had on you made you much easier to mold, and better yet, you were in a position of power to lead an entire rebellion against Celestia - you became more enticing than every other choice I had.

"I made my preparations, slowly managing to penetrate the ancient spell splitting my power between these two realms. I had nearly broken free after several years of concentration, but to my misfortune, I found that you had were dying before I was ready. However, to pick another pony to serve me was out of the question - the rest of your kind lacked your level of dedication. I ceased trying to break free entirely, and focused my strength to get a single spell through - I took control of your corpse, and delivered you to your city so that your kin could restore you."

Night had stopped moving, once again on the crest of a dune. All this time, I've been... dead? He waited for the voice to keep talking, but at the same time he wanted to go back to reality. The Unicorn felt sick to his very core. "Now what?" he whispered into the wind, turning so that the ash didn't flood his mouth again.

The voice did not respond for a long time. "Now, you must restore my own power. The blade your friends retrieved serves us both - you glean wisdom and strength from those it kills, and I slowly regain the power I lost when I had to revive you. You shall transform as I originally willed, ascending from the lowliness of the ponies around you; I will return to Equestria, and reclaim the final victory over Celestia."

"And what of Luna?" the Lunar asked, looking around as if he expected the source of the voice to appear to him. The being didn't hold Celestia in very high regard, so it seemed plausible he hated her sister too - if so, then this wasn't going to work out very well.

"What about her?" came the echoing reply. Night winced a little. "She hardly exists now but for history. No, while she may be your nation's motivation... you no longer serve her above all."

Night thought he saw something on the wind - a tall, black figure, just standing there. He blinked and it was gone. "Then who do I serve?" he spat.

"You serve me!" the voice shouted, angered. The wind seemed to pick up with his anger, whipping up over Night's crest and nearly knocking him down. "You serve the chaos that will undo Equestria's bindings - you serve Vesall, Discord's better, the bane of harmony!"